Photo: Billjones94 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Maharashtra · Dinner

Pav Bhaji

Mumbai's most beloved street dinner — a thick, vibrantly spiced mash of mixed vegetables cooked on a giant iron tawa with generous butter, served with soft buttered pav rolls toasted until golden. A complete, satisfying dinner invented on Mumbai's streets and now eaten globally.

🧺 Ingredients

• 3 medium potatoes (350 g), boiled and mashed
• 1 cup (100 g) cauliflower, boiled until very soft
• 1 cup (90 g) green peas, boiled
• 1 medium carrot (80 g), boiled and mashed
• ½ cup (60 g) capsicum (green), finely chopped
• 3 medium tomatoes (300 g), finely chopped
• 4 tbsp butter (salted — Mumbai street food uses generous butter; do not reduce)
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1.5 tbsp pav bhaji masala (pre-made Mumbai-style, e.g. Everest or MDH brand)
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp salt (adjust)
• 100 ml water (if needed to loosen)
• Squeeze of 1 lime
• 8 fresh ladi pav (soft Mumbai dinner rolls)
• 2 tbsp salted butter
• ½ tsp pav bhaji masala (to dust on tawa)

👩‍🍳 How to make Pav Bhaji

1. Pre-cook all vegetables: Boil potatoes until fully soft. Boil cauliflower until very soft. Boil peas until just tender. Boil carrot until soft. Mash each roughly with the back of a spoon — keep them slightly chunky, not smooth paste.
2. Build bhaji base (Heat: high): Heat 3 tbsp butter + 1 tbsp oil on a large flat pan or tawa on high heat. Add finely chopped 1 onion — fry on high for 5–6 minutes until very deep golden-brown. Add ginger-garlic paste — fry 2 minutes. Add capsicum — fry 3 minutes until slightly softened.
3. Add tomatoes and masala (Heat: high): Add chopped tomatoes. Cook on high for 5 minutes, pressing and mashing as you cook, until tomatoes are completely broken down. Add pav bhaji masala, chilli powder and turmeric — stir vigorously for 1 minute on high heat. The masala should smell intensely fragrant.
4. Add all vegetables and mash (Heat: high): Add all pre-cooked mashed vegetables. Using a flat potato masher or heavy spoon, mash everything together aggressively on the tawa while stirring. Add salt. Add a splash of water if too thick. The bhaji should be a thick, homogenous mash with visible vegetable textures. Cook on high heat for 6–8 minutes, stirring and pressing continuously. The bhaji should sizzle and slightly caramelise on the hot surface. Add the remaining 1 tbsp butter — mix in.
5. Add lime and rest (Heat: low): Squeeze in lime juice. Stir. Reduce to low heat. Rest 3 minutes — the flavours settle.
6. Toast pav: Spread butter on cut faces of pav. Dust a little pav bhaji masala on the butter. Press butter-side down on the hot tawa. Toast on medium-high for 1–2 minutes until golden with slight char marks. Serve immediately alongside bhaji garnished with diced raw onion, coriander and lime.

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